Mobilities Design:towards a research agenda for applied mobilities research

In this paper, we identify the nexus between design (architecture,urban design, service design, etc.) and mobilities as a new andemerging research field. In this paper, we apply a “situationalmobilities” perspective and take point of departure in the pragmatistquestion: “What design decisions and interventions affords thisparticular mobile situation?” The paper presents the contours of anemerging research agenda within mobilities research. The advent of“mobilities design” as an emerging research field points towards acritical interest in the material as well as practical consequences ofcontemporary sites of mobilities and technology. Furthermore, thepaper argues that heightened material sensitivity with an acute focuson situations and the multi-sensorial dimensions of human mobilitiesis largely under-prioritised within much contemporary city planningand transport planning as well as policy-making. The paper proposesthat increased understanding of the material affordances facilitatedthrough design provides important insight to planning and policymakingthat at times might be in risk of becoming too detached fromthe everyday life of the mobile subject within contemporary mobilitieslandscapes